Civilization (I'll Stay Right Here)
By Kachimoochi
Chapter XVIII
Jealousy Or Loneliness
Elsewhere, in another galaxy far, but not too far away, Nasir Robertson and his companion EVA traveled to another galaxy in effort to recruit assistants for Altair's grand debut to the Sol Galaxy.
Nasir, as pre usual, was camped in his living quarters aboard his modest cruiser, which he named: The Lightning Scorpion. His pal, Anaximander would give him grief about the name to no end, though considering he traveled between galaxies in a classic car, he didn't have much of a leg to stand on.
He dressed himself in his standard Nintendo themed pajamas, while covered in a blanket upon his bed, eyes glazed and glued to a vid projection of his latest Nintendo branded distraction. This study in point was titled, The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker: the HD Ultra 100K Limited Edition mark 7 remaster. Nasir wasn't self-aware enough to see the blatant scam which flaunted its identity in the very title, he was to invested to quit now.
EVA, his lover and android confidant, piloted the Scorpion to the first galaxy Altair assigned them. She would have preferred Nasir to join her on the bridge to keep her company, but it wasn't in her program to undermine her master's pursuit of all things Nintendo, no matter how much it strained their relationship in his obsessive desperation. Altair would allow Nasir to choose his own roster of allies to match that of Anaximander's, but the ally Altair had in mind was essential to his plan.
And so, they were off, having left Freedomain after a night of rest, they rode the internal Mass Effect to the galaxy known as Paladin. This was a galaxy which housed one of the most successful and deadly assassin and spy the universe had thus far witnessed.
The spy once worked for the Earth nation known as America, before the second and third civil wars. He was part of a government agency who assassinated targets, observed criminals, or otherwise served the prospects of the nation, in the most unofficial capacity possible.
This man had sacrificed everything for his homeland, his family, his daughter, his identity, his safety, and even his life on more occasions that he could count. This didn't dissuade his ideals a single bit, he was loyal until his final moment on Earth, serving the Remnants of the American government against the 4 Confederacies which separated from their union. The murder of innocents, government figures, global terrorists, alien nationals which didn't serve Earth's interests, it was all part of the job to him. Much like Nasir himself, he'd invested too much in his career to give up now.
This was until he saw the true corruption of the government he protected, the wars it started, the innocents they killed on a whim, and the destruction of any intergalactic policy which didn't benefit the once powerful nation of America. As the Remnants lost their power, the more desperate they became. They would order the spy to slaughter civilians and militias en mass, under the guise of a gas leak, or a natural disaster. If the spy was good at anything, it was covering up murder and disaster like no other.
As jaded as he thought he'd become, he felt guilty as he slaughtered the innocents he once killed other innocents to protect. He'd gotten older in this time too, his once brown hair and deep voice giving way to a stark white mane and a scratchy and dry tone. Though it was only superficial, his flexibility, stealth, marksmanship, and martial arts were still second to none, though there were none left alive to corroborate any mistakes.
After his most morally grey act, detonating an underground collection of C7 beneath Louisiana, the spy fell into a deep depression. The American Remnant ordered him to execute a politician in the Second Southern Confederacy under the guise of a natural accident. The Remnant needed the politician to die, so as to create a more favorable peace treaty with the other Confederacies under the guise of sympathy. Luckily, the Remnant controlled much of the media throughout America, making it a cinch to convince the public that the disaster was indeed a disaster.
Such slaughter, such death, such conspiracy, all of this disheartened the spy like no other action he'd ever committed. He felt like a hypocrite, and he was one, he felt no remorse causing death to politicians of foreign lands and planets, but the one's he'd fought to protect, it was too much for him to handle. He thought about his daughter as well, she'd died in a car accident decades ago, while the spy was a double agent for a human supremacist movement. He didn't even go to the funeral, and he still couldn't bring himself to visit her grave, he didn't deserve the solace.
In his depression, he fell into a deep sleep, which as you can imagine was the vessel that Altair's older brother used to recruit him to Civilization. In his vulnerable mental state, he held no reservations about betraying his government, not then, not ever again.
The spy's name is Sam Fisher, and he spends his days on his home planet Paladin, traveling along the atmosphere in a frigate vessel, training for whatever mission is required of him, whenever Altair's older brother returns.
"Darling! We're approaching Paladin, I need you to come to the bridge" EVA announced through their comm link.
"Give me two minutes, I'm in the middle of a dungeon" Nasir dismissed, eyes still glued to the near 4 dimentional figure on the vid projection.
"Mr. Fisher doesn't know me; he may blow our ship out of the galaxy if you don't announce our presence" EVA enlightened her master.
"He'll just scan our vessel and detect me, have some faith love" Nasir whispered, still distracted from the elvish figure fighting pirate zombies.
"This is the man who nearly destroyed the Citadel because of an insult to the Remnant president, you know how sensitive she was, I'd rather not take the chance" EVA spoke frightened, time rapidly running out.
"You're gonna have to figure something out baby, Ganandorf isn't going to defeat himself for the 76th time, and I have no choice but to see it through" Nasir finally shouted, in an uncharacteristic anger, due to the disruption of his chosen entertainment.
EVA stared out the bridge window at the dusty, tan colored planet below. The profile of Sam Fisher fitted the environment to a tee. He didn't spend a second on the land below, but rather on the frigate, circumnavigating the planet infinitely. Sam the only living being aboard, save for his own androids.
Her scans located the Frigate, in it's airplane like design. If Sam didn't know they were here, he certainly did now, and he usually was the sort to shoot first and ask questions later. EVA wasn't sure if her emotion protocol was malfunctioning, but she felt an omnipresent atmosphere of fear cascading over her artificial conscience. Not for herself, but for her love who was to invested in a remastered video game rather than his own safety. It was her duty as his lover and android to protect him at all costs, even if that meant getting on his bad side.
She swallowed her pride, and activated her comms another time.
"If you don't come to the bridge this instant, I'll tell Altair on you!" EVA exclaimed.
The statement and furious tone of his love was enough to break Nasir out of his elvish trance, at least long enough to study each word his beloved screeched at him.
"What're you talking about?"
"We'll die if you don't acknowledge yourself right now"
"Sam may be crazy, but he isn't stupid, we'll be fine"
"Your life isn't a chance I'm willing to take"
Nasir froze at that line, in another frame of mind Nasir may have taken the phrase as an ultimate testament to their love, but in his present mindset, he only saw it as a malfunction of her emotion protocol, one which was preventing from saving Princess Zelda for the 76th time.
"You're bluffing, besides I'm a grown man, I'm not scared of Altair anyways" Nasir equally bluffed.
"Fine then" EVA said, ominously.
She shut of the comms then and there, leaving Nasir in a dumbfounded stupor. Was she going to tell Altair? Would Altair even do anything? Is she trying to help? Is she intentionally disrupting our game? Why am I so scared of Altair? oh yeah, the football player story.
Such were the questions that permeated Nasir's cortex. Nasir was not a fearful man, but wasn't a confident gambler, so he couldn't leave it to chance, he had to cave in.
He broke out into a sprint to the bridge, just down the hall from his quarters. He was stilled clothed in his pajamas, though that wasn't much out of the usual. He arrived in the bridge in a huff, not even acknowledging his android, and opening a comm to Paladin simultaneously.
"Nasir Robertson to Paladin, come in Sam, I know you're there" Nasir exclaimed, feigning confidence that even Sam knew was false.
"Robertson? What're you doing here? Is Altair's brother back?" Sam announced his presence, in a scruff and dry voice.
"Eh…Not exactly, but Altair himself requests you help for something anyways"
"I'll open the hanger, bring your adorable android too, willya?" Sam said, equally feigning a suave tone, which Nasir knew also didn't exist.
"How did you know EVA was here?" Nasir asked.
"She contacted me almost a half hour ago, smart thing too, any longer and I'd have blown you out of the galaxy, she sounds like quite a doll too, you're a lucky man"
"Uh…Right. Robertson out, I guess"
"Fisher out"
EVA's head was turned away from her master's gaze, ashamed for her deception and disruption. Nasir was near fuming, not only had his confidant lied to him, an act thought impossible by an android, but for a matter seeming so trivial, so human. He hated it.
"What the hell was that! Why did you call me down if you'd already contacted Sam?"
"I felt something Master, like a power that demanded that I see you immediately under any circumstance, I think it was jealousy or loneliness"
"You're not a human, you're an android, you have the emotions I had programmed in you, and jealousy and loneliness weren't any of them"
"I know Master, I'm scared, I'm not supposed to feel things like a human, but I think I'm starting to, I'm frightened" EVA whimpered in the pilot chair, caressing her own arm in fear.
"We'll figure this out later, but for now try to keep these "emotions" to yourself"
"As you command Master"
" I have a bad feeling about this" Nasir whispered internally, not caring about the obvious cliché.